Presentation Skills
Slides for Presenting V’s Slides for Reading
Olivia, One of my regular readers posted a comment on my last post regarding the issue of slide design in relation to whether the slides are meant to be a backdrop to a presenter or are meant as an online presentation to be read without any audio component, here is my reply “Thanks Olivia you…
Read MorePracticing what you preach – Simple Slides
I have been getting some great feedback recently regarding the quality of my slide sets. Of course all are built using the principles I advocate in this blog and in my workshops i.e. no bullet points, minimal text, great pictures and logical story flow. At one recent talk a delegate said that he didn’t know…
Read MoreGreat presenters – born or made?
I had a fascinating conversation today over lunch which I thought I’d share with you. I was speaking to a colleague who does a lot of work as a professional master of ceremonies and facilitator at conference and events Our conversation covered a range of interesting things including voice projection and accents but we happened…
Read MoreWhat makes or breaks a conference presentation?
As part of a recent presentation skills coaching programme for a large client, I have been reviewing videos of some of their top directors presenting at a company conference. Some presenters got it right and got great evaluations and others clearly didn’t and,as an external observer the reasons for the latter were clear Lack of…
Read MorePresentation Zen – A Must Read Book
I have just finished reading Garr Reynolds fantastic book Presentation Zen and I just had to blog about it. Anyone who is serious about improving their presentations needs to read this book. Why? It is well written and full of great quotes about what it takes to communicate effectively in todays information overloaded world. It…
Read MoreBelly breathing wins the day
From time to time even the most experienced presenter gets an attack of nerves or an episode of panic. It happened to me the other evening whilst being Toastmaster at my local public speaking club. I had prepared well for the meeting. I had my agenda and notes but when I arrived at the meeting…
Read MoreQuick Tips for writing great PowerPoint Headlines
Fellow Blogger Frank Roche just posted a neat article throwing down the gauntlet for those presenters who struggle with meaningless slide headlines. Check it out here. In my experience presenters often don’t give enough thought t their headline. This is especially important if you follow the tips in Cliff Atkins Beyond Bullet Points approach. A…
Read MoreThe First Words You Say
As many of you may have already guessed, I am a member of Toastmasters, a worldwide association of public speaking clubs which provides the opportunity for novice and experienced speakers alike to practice and get contructive feedback. It is standard protocol in a Toastmasters meeting that a speaker starts his speech with the words “Mr…
Read MoreLearn How To Be More Charismatic – It’s Not as Hard as You Think
Updated May 2017… Charisma, some people have it and some don’t! How often have we heard that comment? Everyone agrees that is an important and desirable characteristic whether you are a salesperson, a team leader, a presenter or a teacher but it seems such an intangible thing. So what is it and how can you…
Read MoreHow do I memorise a speech?
At my local Toastmasters club tonight one of our newer members asked me how I memorised speeches. Now that’s an intriguing question especially for me since I don’t normally think consciously about “memorising” memorising speeches at all. When I questioned him further on why he wanted to know, he said that he wanted to deliver…
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